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Monday, February 28, 2011

What's the Good Word?

We have to stay positive so I want to hear some good news, big or small, from your corner of the district.

First up, Chief Sealth's boys basketball team is rolling on at the state championships. To that end, a great story on their inspirational coach, Colin Slingsby, from the Times' Steve Kelley. Just like all great coaches, it's not just about what happens on the court. Here's a guy who wants to be a teacher:

When Slingsby began his coaching career at Sealth, he worked the night shift at United Parcel Service, punching the clock from 9:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. He also went to school, an undergraduate at Washington before getting his master's degree at Seattle University.

"He's a new age, old-school coach. A retro Father Flanagan," assistant coach Greg Kalina said. "A lot of coaches profess to do it, but he walks the walk 10 stories higher than I've ever seen anybody else do it."

Of the 40 players who have stayed in his program since he became the Sealth coach eight years ago, 37 of them have gone to college.

And what role did he play in that as a coach?

Four years ago, as the grades of some of his junior varsity kids were slouching toward failure, Slingsby arranged something he called "Sunday Study Hall." He took a group of ninth-graders, including Tra'von Lane, to Barnes & Noble every Sunday morning and made them read for two hours.

"We never had anybody who cared about us like that," said Sealth senior point guard Lane.

"He would tell us (at the bookstore), 'You've got to do your work. If you have bad grades now, you're going to regret it later when you want to go to college,' " Lane said. "He made us understand how important grades are. He's making us into men."

My personal favorite:

"I really love Sealth," said Slingsby, 29, who lives a half-mile from school. "And the teaching side of it has added to my own personal happiness.

His personal happiness is teaching, motivating, guiding and leading his students. That's a teacher.

(Someone had put in some good news about Cleveland but it was anonymous so it had to be deleted. Please either send me the link or repost it with some name/moniker attached. Thanks!)

14 comments:

"Come and see our new building which will be open for the first time during this event. Come and enjoy food from all over the world. Bring your own plate and receive 4 free tickets. Tickets are 50 cents each."

It's a fun indoor festival/feast! And a great way to have an inexpensive, ethnic meal, with foods prepared by Nathan Hale students. The band will be playing too! Always a fun night, and it supports the school! Come on out.

The 6th graders at Hamilton are off to the Olympic Park Institute this week to participate in their amazing science program. I am thrilled my child gets to participate and am grateful for all the hard work staff and parents have been doing for the past several months to ensure all students could participate.

Nathan Hale Horticulture and Ballard High School Botany entered student designed gardens in the Northwest Flower and Garden Show which closed yesterday. Nathan Hale's garden was a faiere forest with student made faiere houses. It won the funkiest garden design award.

Ballard's garden was a take on the mad tea party and won the award for best re-characterized recycled materials. This is first year for Hale to compete, and the second for Ballard. The response to all of the high school gardens was overwhelmingly positive.

Daniel Bagley has been working hard to raise money to improve its playfield. Bagley is less than one block from the problematic Aurora Corridor and currently the playground is asphalt that has worn away, no grass. Kids get hurt constantly because when the asphalt is wet, it's really slippery. We have been told by the district that it's the worst playground in SPS.

We were awarded a $97k matching grant from the Dept of Neighborhoods to add grass and replace some of the asphalt to make it safer. We have reached our matching grant goal, but every additional penny helps. One enthusiastic Bagley Mom entered the Verity Mom "Cartwheel for a Cause" contest. If you vote for her and she wins, Bagley could win an additional $6,000 for the new playfield!

I was recently at Roosevelt (I'm not a high school parent, but was there doing something else) and heard chatter around me that reminded me that the youth of today are, actually, interesting folk with interesting ideas. It's a compliment that has no awards attached, but the kids I heard seemed to like to challenge their brains for fun and left me thinking that the future is in bright hands.

I was recently at Roosevelt (I'm not a high school parent, but was there doing something else) and heard chatter around me that reminded me that the youth of today are, actually, interesting folk with interesting ideas. It's a compliment that has no awards attached, but the kids I heard seemed to like to challenge their brains for fun and left me thinking that the future is in bright hands.

The web site to vote for Bagley ishttp://www.veritymom.com/cartwheel-for-a-cause/and the vote is on the right. Bagley's is #21 Julie Allen. The link to the one-minute video is on the left (look for the rabbit doing a cartwheel #21). All votes much appreciated! There are lots of good causes, but this one is near and dear to my heart. The video really shows how much Bagley needs some green space for the kids. Vote by Wed. at noon.

Education Acroynms

Advanced Learning - SPS' three-tier program for advanced learners. Made up of APP, Spectrum and ALOs. (Note: the name of the district program is "Advanced Learning Services and Programs" but these three programs fall under "Highly Capable Services" of AL Services and Programs.

ALO - Advanced Learning Opportunity, the third tier of SPS' Advanced Learning program

AP - Advanced Placement. A national program of college-level classes given in high schools.

APP - Accelerated Progress Program. One of the levels of the Advanced Learning Program. NOTE: the name of this program is now "HIGHLY CAPABLE COHORT." This change occurred in 2014.

ASB - Associated Student Body. High school leadership groups.

AYP - Adequate Yearly Progress. Part of NCLB.

BEX - Building Excellence. SPS' capital renovation/rebuilding program that is funded via the BEX levy. Every 3 years there is the Operations levy and either the BEX or BTA levies as those two levies rotate in six year cycles).

BLT - Building Leadership Team. Staff members at a school who meet regularly to discuss building issues.

BTA - Buildings, Technology, Academics. The major maintenance/other capital fund for SPS. Originally BTA was to cover major maintenance like HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning), roofs, waterlines, etc.) but now covers wide swaths of items like athletic fields, technology and funding academic needs.

CAICEE - Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence. Created by former Superintendent Manhas in 2008, to issue a report about reform recommendations for SPS.

CSIP - Continuous School Improvement Plan, the plan for improvement for each school as required by state law.

EOC - End of Course Assessments, given in math and science, required for high school graduationESEA - Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the federal law that governs education, includes the NCLB accountability provisions.

e-STEM or e-STEAM - STEM or STEAM curriculum with an environmental focus.

FACMAC - Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee. A district committee comprises of an all-volunteer citizen group created in 2012 to help bring research and ideas to capacity management issues in the district.

FERPA - Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. A federal law that protects students' privacy

FRL - Free and reduced lunch.

FTE - Full Time Equivalent

FY - Fiscal Year

Highly Capable Services - NEW name (as of 2014) as umbrella name for these programs: Highly Capable Cohort (formerly APP), Spectrum and ALO (Advanced Learning Opportunities).

HSPE - High School Proficiency Exam, state assessment that replaced the WASL for 10th graders, required for graduation

HQT - Highly Qualified Teacher, a standard set by federal law

IA - Instructional Assistant

IB - International Baccalaureate program. An international program of advanced classes that can either be taken as stand alone or as part of an overall IB program.

IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The federal law that governs special education

MAP - Measures of Academic Progress. A computer-based adaptive assessment made by NWEA and originally purchased by the district for use as a district-wide formative assessment but now used for a wide variety of purposes.

MSP - Measurement of Student Progress, the state proficiency assessment that replaced the WASL for students in grades 1-8

MTSS - Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

NCLB - No Child Left Behind, a provision of the federal education law, ESEA, introduced during the George W. Bush administration